Friday, 28 February 2014

Zoo's are interesting places and the most common quote used as a Mission statement by these Organisations is ' they are there for 'breeding and educational' purposes. However, sadly many animals do not enjoy being kept in such small enclosures or without much stimulation. In fact, you will undoubtedly have seen for some, the lack of 'natural' stimulation can lead to mental and physical health issues, from physically swaying from side to side to skin and digestive issues, but more importantly keeping animals in captivity can often reduce the mortality rate of many, especially if they are on their own but, naturally, originate from being large or natural herd / group species and because of this there are many Voluntary Groups out there, many of whom we support, who are trying desperately hard to support and release these animals from captivity.The reality of this is that yes, some will be released soon or in time, but as proven in the past it can often take months in fact years for the truly suffering animals to be released. Sadly, we fear it will be a long time before such places are non existent so perhaps an alternative, in the interim anyway, is to look at this from a different angle and one which some of the Captive organisations could possibly be manipulated to approve of. So, let's all put our heads together and see 'what can be done in the interim' to make these captive animals lives more acceptable and enjoyable to them as well as make the Public more aware of their own actions and less anxious about the animals who are showing signs of stress or health issues.Some may say, no, don't make their lives more interesting otherwise the animals will 'look content' therefore a case could not be made in to a legal battle or that defeats the purpose of them fighting for their freedom whereas some say , 'if only they could have this or that to keep them more occupied - or 'what a shame that animal is on its own' . All of these thoughts are just in a minds eye, but the reality is, Zoos will be around for a while yet and YES there is something we can do to help the animals who are struggling or there is something we can do to make it more pleasing for a heartfelt humans eye.So where do we start . . okay, so, let's say you have a child who is a neighbour, who says he is bored and nothing happens in his / her life what could you do about it? orIf you see that the same child, out of boredom picking up all the rubbish (bags, empty sugary juice tins etc etc) then plays with it in his or her mouth, mmmmmm, realises there's a hint of sugar in it . . . so licks it, tries to eat it mmmmm . . . delicious . . . but lo and behold a week, a month, a years worth of rubbish is played with and eaten causing major digestive issues which often go unseen. . . so what happens to animals who manage to get hold of 'humans rubbish - well here is prime example - Carla who is in fact situated in a cell behind the elephant above, but just about out of the Publics eye - (wonder why!) to find out more about this poor poor elephant called Carla you can chief inspector Google her for other write ups. Or let's say the animals aren't being fed properly like this link here . So this in itself gives you one massive hint as to what we as humans can do . . . perhaps you could tell us what you think the answer to resolving these specific issues are . . . . . or comment below with a list of things you think could help.There are other things we as individuals can do, especially for people who do what we do . . . we can give them their voice and ask them what it is that each individual animal would like in their captive pen / arena with a view to making their lives more satisfactory with the end result being a healthier and longer life. . . . prior to their much needed release in to a natural, to them, environment. Watch this space and see what we come up with after our visits to Animal centres. . . . some of our previously written articles mention what specific animals would like it will be interesting to see what others come up with.Most of us know and we certainly know the relief that specific things can bring to animals and are so looking forward to helping others experience this same feeling of long awaited elation - or to put it in their language - "at long last someone or 'they' are thinking about us from our point of view and not from a humans point of view". Can you not just visualise a smile on these animals faces, that look of 'sheer contentment' just imagine how much happier and healthier their lives would be, whether in a home, a captive environment or even for an animal that is confined to barracks because of a temporary health issue. The song '; Wouldn't it be wonderful' so rings true here. Thank you for taking time to read this and perhaps if you see a child or an adult throwing rubbish in to a pen or on the ground where any wild bird could pick it up and drop it in a captive animal pen, you could say '|would you like that can for dinner' if the answer is no, then ask them kindly to put it in the bin' Watch this space . . . . .Let's give all animals their voice, stand up for them, they can understand our body language, they understand the footsteps that open the hatch with food, they understad the trundling of the wheelbarrow full of food, but most do not understand our own native tongue whether it be French, English, German or Italian. What they do respond to is pitches and tones of voices, anxious screams that come from smaller children, laughter and tears of emotions . . . Many don't understand animals verbal language or that look in their eye, or the way they carry their bodies . . . . perhaps next time you go to such a place, don' just look once, look twice and on the third time look closely . . . on behalf of many animals who have suffered and continue to suffer . . . . thank you

Thursday, 27 February 2014

Welcome to all of you from United Kingdom, United States, Russia, Germany, Latvia, Canada, Indonesia, Ukraine, France, Australia, Poland, Ecuador, China, Italy and Brazil who continue to view our Site. It's wonderful to know that information here is and may help many more humans and animals communicate on a 50/50 level as well as lead them towards a healthier life.

May your day be as warming and comforting as this amazing sunset . . . thank you SImon Davies for giving us permission to use this photograph.

As you know we are extremely passionate about all animals but elephants our Founder has always treasured. With Tania's state of health and environment being brought to our attention the below are our findings . . For those of you who noticed and signed the Petition to set her free - thank you but if you haven't but would like to do so, here is the LINK or join her facebook page HERE

Tania

by our

Animal Behavourist/Communicator

at

Nature's Physicians Global Health Mission

14/02/26Tania's physical and mental state of health

Physical state of health

It is felt that the ligament and muscle damage on her legs, may have been stirred by an imbalanced walk initially due to pain and discomfort to the near toe to the left of the red mark on the diagram pointing to the ground. Perhaps it had been poisoned at some stage. With this elephant not having the freedom to roam on absorbent ground, or the freedom to soak or bathe in a river or to stretch as an elephant in the wild would do then her ability to maintain quality muscle mass will have been greatly reduced, therefore any weakness gained from any injury would not heal as quickly nor would the previous muscle mass be able to be rebuilt. If the concrete she stands on has no protective barrier or rubber matting on it, no matter how smooth or rough the concrete, whether wet from being hosed or wet from being soiled or indeed dry it will continue to bruise, scar, wear away skin and if she is not able to roam freely on naturally absorbant and often healing materials, stretch, swim, bathe, roll in mud then any muscle mass or healing will take a much longer period of time therefore reducing any wound to returning to be 100% health. The more accidents or injuries this size of an animal has the less likely a chance it has of recovering to 100% health especially if there is a lack of natural movement available. The miles and the materials this size of an elephant would generally walk on when in the wild naturally triggers a speedier healing ability because of the faster blood flow to all areas - ailing areas, muscle mass as well as the most important the heart muscles. Access, as mentioned below, to water/rivers/lakes is as important to an elephant as it is for us to sit down - it takes the massive weight off their feet and has a soft landing, How many elephants in captivity have a soft landing? Instead their massive bones lie (if their muscles are fit enough to let them lie down in the first place) on a solid and often freezing cold concrete slab! Natural water, in many areas, is also known to have many natural healing properties.

As a separate note water is an extremely important substance for all large animals – Rhino's Hippo's
Elephants etc – why - because it releases the pressure of their own weight pressure where as on solid ground they have to carry their own weight 24/7. In fact it's as important as hydrotherapy is for large boned and obese humans. So, although most elephants in captivity have access to a water bath – it is not usually either large enough or indeed soft enough for them at the bottom. In the wild one the main reasons for bathing is to prepare them for their next elephant march/mission, instead when kept on a hard base we ask them to walk 24/7 on extremely uncomfortable ground.

Concrete also has additional issues

1 - It is permanently abrasive

2 – If they have to walk on it when it is wet from being hosed, it doesn't matter how smooth it is but the concrete dust will get in to every crevice and stay there, irritating any wound.

3- If they walk on it where it is soiled you don't only have the dust particles doing damage but the combination of urine, faeces and concrete has a lasting burning effect therefore corrodes the skin, - no matter how tough it is – proof of this – take a look at any builders hands.

Using our scale method Concrete reads as follows :

Dry Concrete = -1

Wet Concrete (from hosed water) = -6

Wet Concrete from urine = -10

Wet Concrete from faeces = -8

Mental State of Health

Tania is bored, lonely and sad. She picks up on certain sounds and pitches which comfort her. These in the main come from higher speaking humans – mostly females. Their soft voices are comforting to her and the way she shows this is by rubbing her trunk. This is a sign of her trying to comfort herself - one of the areas where other elephants would comfort her if she was in the wild or at least in a herd that she was accepted by.

She would like out more than she is allowed. If she can not be amongst her own sort then she would like to have sounds of nature (a must is the sound of running water) in the background and not always the sound of screaming or shouting children. Although in saying this she does seem to find the sound of happy children fun and wishes she could be part of some form of fun instead of just having her own company and the plain walls around her. She would like more stimulating things around her for example trees or branches hanging from the walls, and not just the same dumped on the ground with things hidden in them for her to find . . . this has become a monotonous habit of humans. Having her food put in different places, different heights etc would be not only good stimulation for her but it would stretch her muscles and ligaments in areas that do not get stretched at the moment.

She would like access to a bigger mud bath and she hates the grey walls . . . perhaps when she is out of her cell someone could paint some things on her wall. This would be good for two reasons . . . an elephant is not used to grey walls and if there is a chance that she is released in due course then to have blue sky, trees, bushes, birds and other animals on the walls would be good for her and adjust her to what could become a new life in due course. If there is a chance of someone painting things on her walls please ask us first, because if you paint the wrong things or animals with the wrong expression then it would upset her. We have painted and instructed paintings to be done for other large animals and it is amazing what a therapeutic result it has on the animals. Even many a Vet has said what an amazing idea . . .

She would also like something soft to rub against, perhaps something like brush matting or tightly woven carpet could be attached on to a frame or somehow attached to the walls somewhere – a large piece though. The right hand side of the large brown gate seems to be the most positive area . As well as that part of the wall she would like something similar put on some of the upright concrete poles. Concrete is not a comforting scratching/comforting post!

With her not having been used to being with another Ele for so long it will take a bit of adjustment on her part but after about 6/7 weeks of gentle introduction she would accept an ele friend. This is where perhaps a piece of carpet/Brush matting cut to the shape of an ele would help her. If there was an angled part of the ceiling anywhere then a long mirror could be put in so that she could, when wanted see another ele (albeit herself) wandering around – this would also allow her to become acclimatised to a moving elephant.

If someone was allowed to create a painting it/they would have to be painted in a particular way. With a few lying down as well.

On behalf of Tania, please can someone somewhere help her with some of the above, as an interim if nothing else. It wouldn't cost much. We are sure the carpets could be donated, just as someone, we are sure, would be happy to paint some life size paintings for her, totally free of charge, and if no one will, then we will come over and do it for her.

Suggestions

So now to what this wee soul could do with, freedom is the obvious choice, but we fear she will not get this straight away . . . so in the interim, if she could get some of the above as well as, which is more important than anything . . manipulation to redirect the negative energy as well as the negative foods taken out of her diet. As you may all be aware certain sugars have a negative effect on these type of health issues in certain humans and there is no difference between them and certain blood types of animals. The next question is - Is there anyone there that could give her any manipulation - we noticed the guy in the video footage managed to handle her a bit - - is he the type or firstly would the zoo allow any of this treatment, and if so would the guy or someone - preferably a woman though, be allowed to give her this treatment . . we would give guidance as to where this manipulation needs to be done . . . In the meantime we will send her positive energy, but you can not beat one to one treatment.

Tania we are behind you as are many people, don't give up your time will come, but in the meantime we are all trying hard to make your life more acceptable to and for you.

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

A huge thank you to Mike Rennard, Film Producer and Director, Alysoun Shadowcatfilms Sharpe, Film Producer and Jas Gibson Photographer and Cameraman for spending the majority of the day discussing Lauder Lass and the ethics behind Nature's Physician's Global Health Mission and the importance of giving all animals a voice. A huge thank you also to Denise and Caroline for keeping us all in check!

What a thoroughly enjoyable morning/afternoon and we look forward to discussing things further . . Will keep an eye out for your Collie Documentary and Good luck at the Premiere Alysoun.

Mike looking forward to talking to the animals at the Zoo with you and to seeing the trailer of your latest film.

Jas - Sorry you had to rush away, good luck with your present project . .. will try and book the Sunshine for the next time!

Saturday, 22 February 2014

Please go to any of the Elephant sites or facebook pages and do what you can to help these and many other imprisoned animals. We are particularly partial to Elephants but all animals, especially large ones do not deserve this. Save all Elephants is a great place to start . . . thank you so much.

We are all really excited this week because we have been told a film producer would like to come and assess doing a short film on Lauder Lass, but better still he then came up with ' he would like to do two shoots' . . . one on, what has to be one of the most amazing horses in the world, Lauder Lass and the second one on the work we do here at Nature's Physician . . . how exciting is this . . with a bit of luck more animals (elephants included of course) and individuals who are locked in will be able to communicate with their world around them once this is all finished . . . . 50/50 communication will be instilled in everyone's hearts by the time we are finished . . . thank you Mike . . . . . we are extremely sensitive to animals and people's needs and we may have to ask your hedgehogi booms and cameras to be disguised somehow!

If you have unanswered questions about your pet/animal or issues you would like resolved please give your animal this chance to communicate with you . . . on behalf of many who have gone unheard . . . thank you.

ON the ground Group or Individual Sessions available

One to one or Group Online Sessions also available.

For further information please feel free to email us or private message us through facebook

As we stated on our facebook page, which covers just the surface of the different areas that we work on ' Each time we go shopping to the Mall, we totally cringe at the types of food people buy and often say to ourselves ' if only they knew', but for the years that we have been doing what we do, we have learnt to give a little hint to the person who might be hesitating over buying something, or if the person looks like a 'non listener' we think to ourselves . . . just you wait, you or your kids will suffer in years or perhaps even months to come . . .

Now, perhaps after reading the above article it might make you open your eyes and change your mind about what your eyes make you buy for yourself, your family and indeed your animals . . everyone can listen to their inner needs, it just takes a bit of training then you are off . . . we can help . . give the people you love the chance of a healthy diet, but more importantly one that suits their individual chemical balances.

It's your life and your choice whether you wish to lead a healthy life or unhealthy . . .

One thing to remember, what happens in our lives can also play an important role on our chemical balances. For example, if you have had to have an operation with medication afterwards this can upset your system, just as stress, or a divorce or moving house or being pregnant or exams can change ones chemical balance. Add all this up, as well as the different ingredients in the foods we eat, some of which are negative then we are potentially producing a plateful of negatives all of which or at least some of which will take it's toll on you somehow, somewhere and sometime.

We seriously would ask you to step back and think about this and from the comments and testimonials within this blog and our website add the whole lot of information together and the conclusion would probably be ' you know, I had no idea how much damage I am doing to my system by buying this or that, and the only way we can stop the Producers from putting the negatives on the shelves is to STOP buying it'. At the moment we are right in the centre of the Producers Market, we do not have a say, well, actually our eyes are telling them what to put on the shelves but it is the producers who are creating the packages . . .

and these are just a few of the side effects.

PLEASE FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR HEALTH

THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU BUY

THINK AGAIN BEFORE YOU EAT

REAP THE REWARDS

GOOD HEALTH

&

MORE ENERGY

WILL BE YOURS

Your health will find a healthy balance

If you wish to find out more or would like your system checked please feel free to contact us

HURRY UP . . . WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE . . . .YOU ARE TAKING FOR EVER . . . . COME ON . . . GET UP . . . JUST GET ON WITH IT . . . COME ON . . . WHAT'S HAPPENED TO YOUR SELF MOTIVATION? . . .. GET A MOVE ON . . . RIGHT . . . WE ARE FED UP OF THIS . . . . WE ARE NOT WAITING ANY LONGER . . . WHAT ARE YOU STARING IN TO SPACE FOR . . . YOU KNOW THAT HAS TO BE DONE NOW, JUST DO IT . orI need time to wake up, I'll be with you in a minute, when in fact it's another 45 minutes before you actually rise out of bedWhile everyone is ready to go you say ' I must just go and do such and such - which isn't in fact important at all, or at least it may seem important to you but in the reality of things it is not'I'm just coming . . . 45 minutes later and you still haven't appeared! You are left a list of things to do and even ask it to be repeated before the person leaves, but by the time they get back, not one thing has been done! instead you went on a ' different planet/ tangient'! You are asked to do something for yourself and say you will do it, but unless encouraged in the correct way, left to your own devices . . . nothing is done . . Suffering from a huge lack of self-motivationYou find yourself staring at a form or an official letter for hours on end but without filling it in, you stare at it as if it is a sea of grey . . . You don't realise how long you spend in the toilet . . . . and can be in there for an hour or more . . . sometimes staring in to space! You are asked to do a simple job but it seems to you like a mammoth task!

If any of these ring a bell you should definitely read on . . .

or do you ever find yourself having to say some of the above to someone? If so, please read on . . . . and take a look at some of the links provided . . . this is not someone just being awkward, this is an issue that with understanding from all involved can be resolved . . . please, give them a chance . . . .

Whether you are the sufferer, the person at the brunt end of the stick or just a member of the family suffocated by what seems like someone suffering from, what we are going to call, in this instance anyway, lazyitis or perhaps we could use 'different plantetitis' this is a serious issue that only gets worse if the people around the sufferer are unaware of this being a genuine blip or temporary mental block or health issue. Instead it can often seem like the person is just putting things off to be awkward or intentionally deciding to do something at the last minute, which has the roll on effect of everyone being potentially late and others being disappointed by you being late. Or it may be that there is an important issue or form that should be addressed straight away, but instead the sufferer looks and succeeds in finding something else to do, that they, when in Mr/Miss/Mrs Procrastination mode anyway, succeed in convincing themselves is more important even although the other people know the sufferers choice is not the most important thing to do. Sadly the more you try to tell the sufferer that such and such needs done, the less likely they are to do it and the more likely they will become paranoid that everyone is on their case. The roll on effect from this is that the sufferer will then go in to 'shut off mode' or be seen to be standing still perhaps staring in to space or he/she will have successfully managed to train themselves to use 'their way with words' to get out of doing something -

Please be assured this is not the sufferers fault, it is something that has, for whatever reason manifested in to a genuine issue that needs sensitive handling.

The first thing to do, as with many self damaging issues is to realise that you are doing it, but this is not always easy or straightforward. In fact unless you happen to be with someone who is knowledgeable of this type of an issue and who is able to catch you on a lucid moment to make you aware of it then it will be extremely hard to get to grips with it in the first instance and with your surrounding friends or family not being aware that there is such a known issue and getting frustrated with you purely because they are assuming you are just being lazy or awkward resolving this issue will not be easy. To them it will be just a case of 'get your act together' where as in fact to you it's like trying to climb Mount Everest on one leg.

The important thing to remember is that a- you are not on your own and b- there are ways to get over this.

The way we look at it is that Mr P has managed to control you, where as really what we want to happen is for you to be encouraged to be in control of Mr P - a.k.a. the Green Ogre!

Many individuals who suffer from Mr P manage to persuade themselves and often all around them that they have perfectly sound reasons for delaying the job that needs done. Once in this mode, unless there is someone, strong minded but sensitive with it, around you then it will be a very hard thing to get to grips with it.

Mr P can cause issues, at home, in school, at college, at work, in relationships, in the general public and self hygiene leaving you looking untidy.

For those around you, until they are aware of how to handle this type of an issue it causes frustration, confrontations, total misunderstanding of how you are feeling and potentially rejection, which is the last thing a Mr P sufferer needs.

There are numerous Web Sites out there but here are a couple to keep you going.

or just type in to Chief Inspector Google PROCRASTINATION and save any of the interesting Sites to file for you to read later on, or for you to pass on to those closest to you, so that they can actually start to understand where you are coming from, or if nothing else just to prove to them that you don't just suffer from lazyitis!

It takes someone with a lot of patience and the ability to cross your threshold at the right time to prove that actually getting that long awaited job done, WITH A BIT OF HELP to start with, does actually encourage you to become more in control of Mr P rather than Mr P being in control of you.

Starting to set yourself mini daily goals within in a set timescale (using an alarm clock) also helps to get you back on track, perhaps with a little gentle prod, at the right time again, from someone who is prepared to understand where you are at will help as well.Okay, so now to where does this all stem from . . .
There are various areas where this kind of an issue could have stemmed from, but very few of them will be the sufferers fault. There is a possibility this could have stemmed from when you were either at the end of Primary or going in to High School, perhaps you were belittled by a Teacher, or bullied by other children/teenagers. Perhaps when you returned home after school there was no one there to guide you, so you were left to your own devices . . and did things in your time. Resulting in the seed 'IN MY TIME' taking control.

Perhaps your homework wasn't checked or you weren't given set times to do it in. Perhaps you managed to persuade your family that all your homework had been done, when in fact it hadn't been! Perhaps with both your parents being out at work when you returned from school you would go out and Socialise instead which would result in your system thinking this was an acceptable thing to do, when in fact it wasn't. Perhaps by this time, you had managed to manipulate a school colleague in to helping you with your homework. Perhaps by this time you had already started to charm people with your magical way with words . . . so in a way Mr P's seed could have started to grow at this early stage.

Perhaps by the time you got to College or University you managed to find another person to help you with the answers to some of your homework or to fill out those dreaded forms that very few people knew you had a problem with, or perhaps you had, or Mr P had manipulated others in to believing you had done something even if you hadn't! Perhaps you have just been left to your own devices for too long.

Perhaps if you had busy parents, foster parents, etc who were all out of the house before you .. ..so you would say to yourself . . . I don't need to get up! so got into the habit of not getting up, resulting in just staying in bed in a dwam of your own.

Perhaps whilst on study leave you got your self in to a bit of a rut and found revising difficult then when it came to the exam you became flustered - albeit temporarily.

Perhaps you had managed to manipulate your world with words but no action,

Perhaps you managed to give excuses for not having done something, which were accepted at an early age and from then on you just managed to get away with this kind of verbal convincing!

Perhaps with no rush in a morning you would get carried away with the time whilst doing the simplest of jobs that would generally only take 6 minutes or so!

Perhaps you were applying for interviews but found this so daunting you decided to leave it till another time, but that time turned in to months, perhaps even years.

Perhaps an important email came in that, in the real world, would not only have been courteous to reply to immediately but for the initial employability factor should have been essential to show a prompt reply . . . let's face it, if you send an important email off and you don't get a reply straight away how would you feel. Once you have allowed your system to do this once or even twice, it will do it again and again until it becomes a habit and controls the way you reply to anything or anyone.

Which ever way, for you to cope in the future without Mr P rearing his ugly head again or at least at the times of 'pressure' you need to get to grips with this now and with the help of genuinely understanding friends or family you WILL be able to do it, but you have to totally admit that there is an issue in the first place otherwise Mr P will continue to control you. If you go and visit Chief Inspector Google there are masses of suggestion for all, victim and loved ones included.

We will be adding to this in due course, but in the meantime we will leave you to assess the above, feel free to contact us if you feel we can help or guide you.

Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Over the years we have given various talks to Groups, Schools, Parents, Colleges and Individuals on ways to get the best out of our Children so that they can grow up to be positive, kind, caring, responsible and confident individuals able to cope with the ups and downs of their future life. Well, the other day, while on a different mission, with the help of Chief Inspector Google, we happened to stumble across this most beautiful and succinctly put article which we would like to share with you all in the hope that it will encourage others to get the best out of all Children/Students/Individuals . A huge thank you to Muddy Boots for this and for all the other handy snippets of information that are on their site.

Please pass this on and on and on and hopefully by doing this it will give others this chance to encourage the very best out of our children of tomorrow.

In the previous article we shared the 'pecking order' pattern of events shortly after Boxer was, very peacefully, put to sleep, this included some of our pet sheep coming across to pay their respects and we covered how the closest animals, like at a human funeral, attended the body of him first and then how the ones on the periphery were only allowed to pay their respects when the others dictated, silently, that it was okay to do so, or once they had changed their posture or angle.

Two hours later the Digger arrived, and all lifted their heads but they weren't particularly bothered by it, however the noise did make them about turn and move a few yards. All the animals were grazing about 15-30 metres away, but with their bodies facing the activity and with the occasional raise of a head.

However, once the burial site had been dug, we had to carry Boxer down from slightly further up the field. Thank fully the driver of the machine knew Judi and knew that she would want to walk alongside her trusty steed with her hand on his neck as a final thank you ' or I'll be with you till the very end', so he kindly slowed down to her pace of walk and then laid him, very gently, on the ground so that he could then be placed considerately and in a lying comfortably position in his final resting place. It always seems to be, from this and previous experiences anyway, at this stage that the other animals, gather closer to be part of the goings on, with the ones who were closest moving closer and the periphery ones in the background.

The final touches complete with hay, rugs, his very own time capsule and of course some selfish tears, a few moments of total silence without any bird song, just the sound of the wind and the breathing horses and the chugging of the digger as it was about to rest the first bucket full of soil over the body, it went with a thud . . . that thud you never forget, like the thud of a stone landing on a massive lidded bucket, only 5 or 6 seconds left and Boxer would never be seen again . . the two horses came closer and stood quietly, almost as if you could see 'memory captions going past their very eyes' a sad moment, ten years of captions gone in a matter of seconds and Lauder Lass looked on from behind them with a drooped head.

T

Happy memories of fun, scratches, care and attention with Didget doo always at the side keeping her watchful eye on all . ..

. . . . Judi placed her two hands on the two horses who were the closest to Boxer and with dogs at foot they stood tearful but motionless until the Digger had shown signs of moving back to park. By this time, the other horses and pet sheep were closer but it was the little Shetland, the one who used Boxer as a shield from the others, who wanted to go up and smell and lick the ground where he lay, or perhaps it was just to check that the job had been done correctly, following suit was Charlie Barnie then the one sheep who thinks he is a horse, and after that the rest of the horses took their turn, Lauder Lass incldued. An hour or so later they ventured slightly further away from the burial site but could be seen returning to the place where Boxer first lay every so often.

The next few days were filled with adjustments, insecurities and a clear sense of 'we miss you Boxer' filled Charlie Barnie and Ralphi's eyes and general demeanour. Judi initially was the leader out to the field for the first few days and we all continue to partly fill the roles of Boxer and Didget doo although no one gives as good a scratch as Boxer says Charlie Barnie or indeed as good a toadie face as our Didget doo ever did.

Bless you both.

Ten days in, and the hierarchy as been re-formed and a kind of status quo has been resumed.

There is not a deep enough meaning for the word 'adjust' in any dictionary that we know of.

Monday, 17 February 2014

Sadly one of our Rescue Horses, Boxer, had to be put to sleep last week . . .- the dark bay in this footage.

Boxer, previously owned by a lady down in the Dells, who suffered from a brain tumour, who then couldn't cope with him, he was re-homed but clearly wan't a happy hoofer. His old owner took him back and thanks to Mossburn Animal Centre she discovered us. We suggested she came up here to see the rest of our menagerie, shortly after Boxer discovered he was on his way to Scotland. . and we were one horse more . . .

Ten years has passed by since Boxer arrived here and we have to admit he was an awesome individual to care for, one of the most gentle giants we have known apart from an old 18.2 we had a few years ago. Boxer cared for everyone, looked after who ever was on his back and an absolute trusty steed as well as a fantastic solid wall for our little Shetland pony to hide behind when Cheeky C.Barnie attempted to pull toadie faces at him.

Shortly after his arrival he managed to befriend a mare called 'Didget Doo' which was extremely unusual as she rarely accepted a newby! although she surprised us all by allowing our Little Shetland to brush past her on his first day - accepted instantly - perhaps the size of him was not a threat! However, Sadly Didget Doo passed on about 2 months ago.

On arriving he was a bit unsure of our black Lab Bo, but that was understandable when you saw the black dog his old owner used to have - he barked and jumped all the time - one of those 'canine pests' actually.

Boxer became used to our pet sheep, geese, flapping sheets, lorries and large vehicles and realised, after all that life wasn't so scary after all.

At the age of about 26 Boxer sadly took a turn for the worse one early morning with the odd grunt of unhappiness and roll of discomfort, Judi stayed with him, nursed him, massaged him, and gave him all that he asked for but it was clear that he was wanting to be released. In the morning the dreaded phonecall was made, outwith his ear shot of course. The others were eating their hay and feed as if there was no tomorrow but Boxer was just not interested in anything at all. - which was totally abnormal for him. A few minutes after he asked to go out to his field - on his own - another unusual request. He started whinnying, and cantering round the field as if he was hunting for someone - could it have been Didget Doo he was looking for, could he sense her presence. Well, no one would have believed this had they not seen it for their own eyes. He sniffed the ground hunting for something, perhaps Didget doo's old hoof prints but as a follow on from this he went straight up to her gravesite and rolled on it . . . and then proceeded to the area where Didget Doo last rolled and rolled himself. By this stage he was not only muddy but also quite exhausted by this time. If we all listen to our animals, they can tell us whether they want to go or not, and sadly this was the day that Boxer wanted to go over to the Beautiful Rainbow bridge.

With the other horses still being in at this stage the Vet arrived with stethoscope and injection in hand. We specifically said no internal, no deep examination, because he didn't want to be inflicted by this. Boxer was a gentleman to the end accepting the injection gracefully and slipped away extremely peacefully with much dignity surrounding him and his mare by his side, although invisible to us,
but finally with his broken heart, from the lack of Didget Doo's presence, repaired. We stayed with him for a while and then let the other horses out. Charlie Barnie and Ralphie knew through the evening that something wasn't right and, abnormally kept, their distance or gave Boxer his space. Judi walked with them all (halterless) up to the field, at their pace, an abnormally slow pace, but left them to slightly lead the walk, just by a horses neck distance away.

Now some of our sheep, actually one of them in particular thinks he is a horse, so tends to stick with his equine friends rather than the Bovine type . . Since Didget Doo's passing Greedy, this one shorse! (Sheep) would share his day with Boxer or Chessie.

Whilst we were walking up the field two of our sheep joined in - Lambie and Greedy - walking parallel with us as if it was a funeral march they walked all the way up until all of us stopped.
it was an incredible experience.

Judi sat down beside Boxer, and the rest came near. Charlie Barnie first, Ralphi second, Greedy just barged his way in and the other two kept their distance initially.

They all sniffed from a few yards away to start with, with their heads hung low. Greedy started to paw Boxer, as if to say, hey matey, you're meant to be up, come on get up, However Ralphi took umbrage at this and chased Greedy away as if to say - eh, you, I have known him for longer, don't paw him, he's at peace, leave him be. Judi stayed with them all for about half an hour, or at least until they were settled with the situation then headed off to organise for a digger from a very accommodating neighbour. She had to drive past the horses a little later on only to find they were all lying down beside Boxer, Charlie Barnie fractionally behind him, which is where he would always stand when Boxer was alive. Boxer had been his mentor for ten years you see. Ralphi was at his side and the others kept their distance in comparison.

Once the two closest horses had paid their initial respects and started to wander off, the others came in, Chessie started to lick boxer and stayed with him for a good 40 minutes, Lauder lass then paid her respects but lay beside him for a good hour. Greedy returned often during this time and as a last respect lay beside his neck. Ralphi and Charlie Barney watched from a close distance away but did not seem annoyed that the others were now paying their respects.

Often we do not appreciate that animals can suffer from a broken heart just as elephants and humans can but we do hope that this little true story will give others an appreciation of how animals can and need to mourn and heal in the same way as we do.

Saturday, 15 February 2014

Thanks to a Haulier calling off at the last minute we had the absolute pleasure helping a horse to load on to a trailer the natural way, without force, rope/lead rope, whip or shouting. This was a horse who had not been on a trailer for a good number of years and when he was he was always loaded with his longstanding mare being led in first. Sadly the mare (T) had passed over to Rainbow bridge a couple of weeks before hand therefore (B) the horse had to cope with going on this journey or new chapter in his life on his own. Having been grazing in this field, with his friend T for many years all this was a new entity, an experience he had never had to cope with on his own. We were told of T being ill before she died, although just a matter of days beforehand and after the dreadfully emotional day of her passing B was showing natural signs of the, now, massive void in his life, to the point of some of his 'normal' antics changing, for example he would go in to her stable, which was not normal, his pooing pattern had changed and his sense of mourning was apparent. His owner contacted us and after sensing her concern for him we offered, on the days we were seeing another Client in his direction, to pop in to see him to see how we felt he was and to give him our kind of tlc.

We soon realised that B was a very intelligent horse and loves to be mentally, one ahead, of any human. He's not one, at the moment anyway, who enjoys a lot of comforting, stroking or hard 'equine' scratches which can often be the key to encouraging a horse to take the next few stages naturally without being forced from either behind or from the front. He also seemed to be a horse who has given his all to his owner albeit with the odd panic attack in between and because of this his owner wanted to make this transition period as smooth as possible for him, especially after all the commotion he had to experience or face over the last few weeks of his partner's life.

If you have spent any time at all watching or trying to get a horse loaded on to a trailer or lorry, you will be familiar with the amount of times a horse is perhaps forced on or who continually looks behind to see when the next tickle from a whip or rope is going to be. In fact very few horses or large animal who has had trouble loading in the past does not look behind wondering - what's going to happen next, or where has that human who was shouting at me to move on gone, or what are the two people going to do behind me . . . because darn sure I'll be ready for them -

Often horses think : "I'll just leap to the side, or go up on my hind legs, or I'll put super glue on my hoofs and not take one step further, or I'll, all of a sudden just leap back - that'll make them all shift and lose their confidence! I know, I'll lead them to false pretences and milk them for all the treats I can get - I know that they haven't got the same patience as me and that I'll get hauled to go further forward - but why should I be forced to do something I don't want to, I have never forced them to do something they don't want to do nor have I kicked them from behind or hauled them to an area that I want them to be in. I mean come on, it's got to be 50 50 in everything in life otherwise life becomes a dictatorial one which can make our lives no fun whatsoever, it can also lead to a huge lack of trust. . . . all because the human is always in so much of a rush" with little understanding for those of us who do not speak the human language

The initial plan was to get someone to come along and load him in a lorry - a lorry having more room than a trailer - but sadly the person they asked, at the last minute called off - so one of their friends offered them their trailer.

The owner of this horse had kindly thought about placing the trailer in B's field a few days before he was loaded, they tied haynets round the side so that he could munch and be content around it. They placed the ramp down a number of times drank numerous cups of tea and ate many a sandwich in it with the hope that he might just waltz on himself but as much as this was a good idea, B thought - they must think I was brought down the Swanee yesterday, I don't load without my friend and she's not here!"

On this very cold January morning of B's owners arrived at 9.30'ish and after a period of time succeeded to encourage one of his legs on to the trailer, but as for the rest 'No thank you Mom'.
We arrived at about 11'ish, caught up with the progress to date and continued with a 'joint plan, but not a 50/50 communication plan but a 33.3/33.3/33.3 plan' or perhaps we should say we need to consider everyone on an equal wavelength but with B at the centre. Ideally we wanted him to load on his own, in a contented fashion, without any force, panic attacks or fearful situations or experiences.

B's owner, knowing that B had only ever loaded with T going on first, had the forethought to rub the trailer down with the smell of T's rugs and the juice from apples, in the hope that this would make him just walk on, but, sadly, it didn't, however we do feel the smell of her gave him that comforting smell, but he still wondered and was wary as to why he should go in to this trailer and quite rightly so.

Having been told on numerous occasions that B is a horse who works things out to his advantage and to a point where he has the ability to 'play with humans' on a 'one upmanship' basis, our comment was ' two can play at this game' so off to work we went.

As always, our ultimate goal was to encourage him to load with his owner alongside and not just for us. Like us, it was totally clear that, if at all possible, the owner did not want any form of trauma being inflicted on B and that everyone present sang from the same tune.

Having spent some time with B over the previous fortnight he naturally recognised us and accepted that we were not a threat to him, at least we hadn't been on previous visits so he had no reason to question our visit. He had also realised that we used his cues, not our own, which for this horse, as with many others (horses/dogs/humans/cows/bulls/sheep) always works at the end of the day.

So with just a halter on, down to work we went working the horses mental state of mind, not his physical being, after all no human, without the use of chains, rope and sheer constraint will win against a 3/4 tonne animal. Using this form of mental communication also gains a mass amount of trust between the initial instigator of all movements and the animal, to the point that the horse, in a relaxed fashion, soon learns that, mind over matter was infact quite a self learning curve but one that also brought 50 50 respect and a completely 100% positive result for not only this task in hand but also instills a 'happy memory' if asked to load again, that is as long as the same method is used. . . . and there lies the answer to all behavioural or requests asked of any animal (humans are included in this by the way!)

Remembering our goal was to encourage this horse on to the trailer, but not just by us. It was extremely important that the owner was able to do this. A saying she used on the day, every story/film/play needs a producer and an understanding director, once the script is written or set in stone and understood by all, then it is up to all involved to create it and to make it run as smoothly as possible. In this instance the horse was the Producer, we were the initial directors but once the directions were clear to all, then the Producer worked with anyone . . and this was indeed the case with B. By the time we had succeeded in mentally guiding him which was about 50 minutes later B was happy to stop where ever we stopped, whether on or off the trailer, go on and off the trailer as often as asked without the flinch of an ear or tail. He would stop and stare out of the trailer on his own accord all without any force, roping, lead rope. Another truly humbling result and another example of how using natures own ways gives 100% results and we hope this will encourage others to listen to all animals cues, whether horse, human, dog, elephant or bull.

On behalf of all animals who have been forced in the past, PLEASE give your animals the chance to work naturally for you, but above all, have patience and cut your verbal communication by 99.9%. After all they don't speak your language, they rely on body language, so if you stop they will stop etc.

Remember any any animal will milk your body language for as long as you allow them to do so and here lies their winning key!

Friday, 14 February 2014

Having come across numerous articles recently about the quality of food available to us these days and comments relating to the short and long term side effect they can have on us, many of which we totally agree with, it truly is time we all take a step back to actually read the ingredients and be more aware of health changes as these foods are either taken off or indeed put on our menu. With out us, as individuals and Groups, standing our ground regarding our beliefs that we do not want to be filled with 'hidden' additives, ingredients or 'toxins' then we will continue to be roller coastered towards a future of continuing ill health. We can all help our future generations long term health by standing our ground now which will change the 'powers that be' from dictating what they want us to eat and drink. As a small example of many topics regarding food you might be interested to go to this link Nearly all gum and candy contain either toxic GMO corn syrup or nerve-disrupting aspartame

If we don’t all start to do this now we will continue to be poisoned by what is on shop, mall and our own shelves. If we all stand our ground now and learn what is good for us (as individuals) but more importantly what is not, our health will improve ten fold with less illnesses and long term negative effects. If we don’t start to show producers that we don't want some or many of the products they are trying to or perhaps we should say are successful in encouraging us to buy with all the beautiful packaging, irrespective of the ingredient then our bodies and our future generations will continue to be poisoned by all the ‘hidden ingredients’ which we are, in no uncertain terms, being roller-coastered in to buying and absorbing.

So, to reduce future generations from issues such as Autism, A.D.H.D., Depression, Alzheimer's, Dementia and many other health issues we need to seriously re-address what we eat and drink and pay more attention to the effects that many foods have on us. Ultimately by doing this we will also reduce the amount of medication that we so often end up being rollercoastered in to taking when in fact we can resolve many of our health issues ourselves by paying closer attention to our bodies cues/warning signs.

Perhaps a suggestion would be to keep a notebook and note down any reactions you have after eating your food or drinking any liquids albeit specific coffees or teas. Jot down any symptoms, whether it be a few belches, constipation, upset stomachs, or bowel issues. Or alternatively if you are interested in learning more contact us or arrange an appointment to discuss this issue further.

Think of our future generations . . do we want them to suffer the health issues many of us have today?